RockMyAmadeus

By the way...if anyone is ever wondering what might be "worth money" in the future, check out what was hot in the past. Valiant, for example, has had a couple of minor resurgences over the years. Danger Girl, apparently, is going to be "hot" again. And, of course, all the Bronze keys that you couldn't give away in the 80s, became SCORCHING hot in the 90s, then couldn't give away again in the 00s, and now are, once again, hot, or poised to be. Batman #426-429 have had their ups and downs, but they were worthless in the 90s...you could have bought all you wanted. I hemmed and hawed on a 20 book lot of Bats #428 on eBay....for $42...because it was over $2/per. Silver Surfer (Thanos) was, of course, smoking hot in the 90s....now, guess what? Turtles is a great example, too. Dead. Dead dead dead by the late 90's. Junk. #1 first prints selling for $100 or less, everything else $10 or less...now look. Nobody's ever going to be able to pick "1st Squirrel Girl" and books like that. Granted. But, there are tons and tons of books that were, at one time, smoking hot...and could be again. People remember.

The guy on the left looks like Tom Kalb.

That's not how it worked back then.

By the way...the difference in value...if any...between Voldy slabs and identical CGC slabs is almost certainly never going to go away. PCGS, founded in 1986, and NGC, in 1987 (CGC's "sister" company), sell for different prices, especially in the nosebleed grades, because of the market perception...for over 30 years now...that PCGS is just a LITTLE tighter than NGC. So, an MS70 PCGS slab is going to sell, on average, for more than an NGC MS70 slab. Both, of course, will sell for substantially more than any other company. So why do people still sub to NGC, with that difference? Because of the perception that a coin will get an MS70 at NGC, whereas at PCGS, it gets an MS69. The difference between MS70 at both companies can be significant...but the difference between a 69 at one and a 70 at the other is often greater. So, people sub to NGC on the chance that they get a 70, where at PCGS, they might only get a 69...or 68+. So, for Voldy to compete, they have to offer something that offsets that difference...maybe a little looser grading, maybe substantially better service or cheaper cost....something. If, as SOT mentioned, the difference between a Voldy and CGC 9.8 bronze key is an astonishing 61%...that's not even remotely sustainable. Self-interest....or, really, self-preservation at that point...has to kick in. And we wish we had 9.7s to work with.

This thread. It says much. Instead of sober analysis, or ignoring those who can't be reasoned with, it's page after page after page after page of personal attacks, from all sides. So "people are exposed for who they are", you see. Pretty amazing.

I saw mike's rack today. I didn't stare. Much.

There was actually a time, in the early 90s, when all the symbiote issues had a bit of a breakout...especially that poor man's #252, #253, the 1st appearance of the Rose. Now, if the Rose ever shows up anywhere....er, I've said too much...

I know, it's a bit of a quibble, but CGC has had it wrong since the beginning, and they're supposed to go with the indicia, which says this: This is incorrect. Not that it matters much, but...it's inaccurate.

Dazzler began (Mar 81) as a Direct-only title and stayed that way through the entire first issue! Micronauts started with issue 38 (Feb 82), Ka-Zar the Savage with issue 10 (Jan 82), and Moon Knight with issue 15 (Jan 82). All of those books were published in 1981....

Yes, as mentioned, DC went whole hog on the Direct only titles. For example: both the Shadow and Spectre minis of 1986 and 1987 were Direct only. Then there was Wrath of the Spectre, Shadow of the Batman, and Saga of Ra's al Ghul. All sorts of fun stuff. Oddly enough, Dark Knight (it's NOT "Dark Knight Returns"...that's only the title of the FIRST book) were also sold on newsstands, as was Longbow Hunters, but Killing Joke was not (considering the subject matter, though tame today.) AND, in fact, both the Legion and New Teen Titans began, after a little over a year, to REPRINT the stories told in the "Direct only", baxter paper books in the newsprint titles, starting with issues #59 (NTT) and I want to say #321 for LOSH, but that's probably wrong. Thereafter, the new stories would appear in the Direct only (and much more expensive) titles, and those new stories would be reprinted a month or two later in the newsprint titles, which were renamed "Tales of the New Teen Titans" and "Tales of the LOSH." Probably got very confusing for a while there. This continued until the cancellation of the "reprint" titles in 1987 (LOSH) and 1988 (NTT.) You want a REAL thrill...? Put together a Canadian set of those titles. Good luck! Another Marvel book that was Direct only was Marvel Fanfare, though, again, there are UPC issues in the run (#49 for example.) As far as this thread is concerned, it looks like only the Marvel titles had issues with UPCs for Direct only issues.

Excellent advice.

Ah, yes, the "it's just a fact" defense to mask an insult. If I call Bill Cosby a scumbag rapist, am I insulting him, or am I just stating "a fact"...? It's both. The fact is, your comment was unnecessary, contentious, hostile, and designed solely to engender conflict. If you have a disagreement, state it. Saying "God help the people/company you represent" is just you firing off a shot to take a dig at someone else. Nothing more, nothing less. A fair, just, and reasonable person will recognize that and refrain. And if you had been paying attention, you would have noticed I've made several comments along these lines in this thread. I highly recommend paying attention. It can only help.

New Mutants #87 This was the hottest back issue of 1991. There was nothing hotter. $65 for a book that came out a year and a half earlier for $1. That's the equivalent of $250 or so now. And that was, obviously, for raw books. Batman #428 In the height of Batmania, July/August of 1989, it was a $75 book. Not bad for a book that came out less than a year earlier for 75 cents. Nick Fury vs. Shield #2. $25 book at the time, a quarter book for almost 30 years now. Animal Man #5. A "niche" book that still managed to catch $25 in the summer of 1990. Now, nobody cares. Superman #50 (1990). $25 by December, 1990. Now....not so much. And, of course, the granddaddy of them all, Superman #75. $100 within a couple of months of coming out, in 1992. Now...$5-$10 or so. Or less.

Comments like this are provocative and hostile, and only contribute to conflict on the board. They serve no good purpose, and are a direct violation of the terms of use. And there's been a lot of this in this thread, all the way around.

Who knows? They were doing "Direct only" as early as 1981 with Dazzler, Micronauts, and Kazar. It was quite weird, and had little rhyme or reason. AF went direct, Doc Strange (1988 series) started as direct. I don't recall other series that were direct only, but there were a few.

I used to be blissfully unaware of this strangeness. I blame @RockMyAmadeus for dragging me down into this hell! To expand on this, issues 2, 3, 5, 7-9, and 11-34 have UPCs, while issues 1, 35, 37, 42, 43, 48, and 50 appear to have both Direct and Newsstand editions Haha. Sucker. Doctor Strange was a DIRECT ONLY title...hence the "Dr. Strange/Ghost Rider #1" special mentioned earlier. There should be NO "newsstand editions", BUT...clearly, no one was in charge, so some of the issues may, in fact, have ended up on the newsstand. Boy, was Marvel in a mess at that point.

Pffft...perfect syntax: "what goes on on the internet"

They will put "Newsstand" on the label if the price is different. Correct. But that's not the case here.

They won't. It's a pretty copy, though.

So sexy.

Who knows? It was all very bizarre, and made little sense. The only possible theory I have is that book sellers, like Waldenbooks, DID have Direct editions of books (they did sell them), and it's possible it was an attempt to test out putting UPC codes BACK on Direct only books. I would imagine some of the larger chains complained that they had to sticker those books. There are many, many books from that era that were Direct only that got stickered with UPCs so they could be scanned in their systems. In fact, I think that's the most plausible theory....but the few who did know have probably forgotten.

Looks like a pretty copy, too.

Yes, all four issues were sold on newsstands.

Um. I'm not Kevin Spacey.

Yes, I felt a little let down what with no credit coming in for it But then I realized I am being ignored. I do not have any reason why. I was close to starting to post for the underdog, but was worried I would be slapped down again. BTW, it was very nice of you to recognize the nerd value. Thank You. It's the best kind of nerd: HISTORY nerd! People don't have to be dopey illiterates if they don't want to be. Murder in the Cathedral, indeed...